Epiphany V - Lynn Campbell

Isaiah 58:1-12
Matthew 5:13-20

“You ARE the light of the world.” In the name of the one God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen.

You are the light of the world. I’m sure many of you have heard this phrase and this gospel story more times that you can count. But one of the amazing things about reading and praying with Scripture, is that God often has something new to reveal to us. Time and time again, we have the opportunity to delve deeper into the distinctive richness that is God’s Word to us.

The words from day’s gospel take me back to a song I often sang as a child growing up in Catholic school- and a song I sang many, many, many times this summer while working at the Barbara C Harris summer camp. We sang this song with gusto and hand motions. I’ll spare you my singing, but I think you know the words: “this little light of mine, I’m gonna to let it shine. this little light of mine, I’m gonna to let it shine, this little light of mine, I’m gonna to let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine”. “Hide it under a bushel? NO! I’m gonna let it shine.” And on and on and on. The kids loved this song, just as I remember loving it has a child. There was something in the lyrics that I understood as a child. But there is even more that I get now as an adult.

You ARE the light of the world. We ARE the light of the world. As a child I didn’t doubt these words, but as an adult I certainly did. How could I be carrying the light of Christ? Surely I haven’t prayed enough, worked hard enough, or given enough to others to have such a light. Maybe if I just try harder. But that is not what today’s Gospel reading says. You ARE the light of the world, Jesus says. Not, you will become the light of the world, not, keep trying and eventually you will be the light of the world. No! You ARE the light of the world. This is a reality of our nature as beloved children of God. This truth is absolutely amazing and also a bit daunting. All of a sudden, it isn’t just a fun song from our childhood, it is a real call from God. We are commissioned to let our light shine for all to see so that they may see our good works and give glory to God.

Our first reading from Isaiah gives us insight into what it means to be a light in the world. In this reading we see the people of Israel, who have returned to Jerusalem from their exile, struggling with a city in need of rebuilding after its destruction and a way of life in need of renewal amidst the chaos and violence of their land. They fast and pray, yet God does not seem to hear or take notice of their plea for help. But God is present, God hears their supplication, but then points out the error of their ways and calls them to a new way.

God calls the people of Israel to the difference between the ritual practice they are offering, and the faithful practice that God asks of each of them. While they carry out the rituals of their faith, they continue to oppress their workers, and to fight with one another. There remains a large gap between their seeking after God and Gods ways AND their actual way of life.

“Is this not the fast that I choose”, says God, “to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them… Then your light shall break forth like the dawn…”

Being a light in the world, letting our light shine, asks us to take seriously the needs of others. It calls us to practice acts of justice, love, and mercy. It calls us to respond to the needs of others and to dismantle systems that cause the need in the first place. Being the light of the world challenges us to spend less, so we can give more, consume less so we can share more, conform less, so we can transformation more. THIS is how we let our light break forth into the world.

I’ve been blessed to have a handful of people in my life who have illustrated what it looks like to let our light break forth like the dawn. Being with them is like seeing the sun break through the clouds after days and days of snow and ice. Kim McElaney is one of these people for me. She was my campus minister and mentor while I was a student at Holy Cross. People were drawn to Kim, they were drawn to the light that seemed to come through her gentle eyes and her loving way. She was a woman of great prayer, even had a room in her house dedicated to prayer. Every day, she entered this room and opened her heart to God. And day after day she opened her heart to the people around her. She had a great love for the people of Mexico and Kenya. She often traveled to these countries to get to know these sisters and brothers better and to find ways that she can work for justice and peace in their land and in our own. She was the first person who helped me to see the connection between our Christian faith and the work of justice. She knew that she could not worship God without also caring for those who experience injustice.

People wanted to be around Kim, to share in what she had found. She stood like a lighthouse, shining the light that was given to her by God, and pointed people not to herself, but towards a deeper encounter with God and God’s people. Sadly, Kim died last year from cancer. But, her light, Christ’s light that was in her, continues to be seen in the world today. Many people live out the gospel in a deeper and more profound way because of the influence she had on them. She let God’s light break forth in her own life and encouraged others to do the same.

I hope there have been people in your life who have shown you what it means to let your light shine. But even more than that, I hope and pray that each of us discovers anew that we ARE the light of the world.

I know there are times when we do not feel the light within us. Perhaps you feel that way right now. I invite you to spend some time in prayer this week focusing on the light that IS in you. Trust God. The light is there. Ask God to help you recognize it. In prayer, imagine that light shining within you. At first it will start out small. Maybe just a faint light. Each day imagine the light becoming larger- taking over more and more of you. And then ask God how you are being called to let this light break forth from you. Ask how you are called to mend broken relationships, to work for justice, to practice kindness and to walk humbly with God. In the words of Isaiah: “If you remove the yoke from among you,… if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like noonday.” You, my sisters and brothers, ARE the light of the world. Let it shine.